


The Creature in the Rain

by MeinNameIstJette



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Gen, It's raining, Kitten is pathetic, Noah can't resist it, Noah finds a kitten, Spiraling Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:01:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24402469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeinNameIstJette/pseuds/MeinNameIstJette
Summary: Noah finds a kitten and the rest is history.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	The Creature in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> This is unedited. 
> 
> I also want to give a huge shoutout to @twelvie on tumblr and on the FFXII discord for letting me use their cat OC for Noah! Thank you for inspiring this! >D

It was pouring. 

The sound of the rain thundering against the concrete was almost the only sound that could be heard besides Noah’s quick footsteps as he tries to duck under what little shelter Archadian buildings could provide him. Noah hadn’t expected to be out but given the nature of his job there had been a pressing meeting with an informant that he just couldn’t ignore. 

For this reason, he had wethered the rain leaving the palace for the first time in a long time, dressed as an imposing civilian rather than in his customary Judge Magister armour. It was almost a refreshing feeling knowing that many if not all Archadians would not be able to identify him, at least not at first glance. The illusion of anonymity that Noah had missed from his younger days when all he needed to worry about was arriving home on time for dinner. 

Home…

Noah shakes that thought from his head. It was better to not lead his thoughts down that path especially when it never ended well mentally. He stops briefly under the canopy of one shop as he peers around the corner at the cab queue. 

No cab.

Noah frowns even though he knows he’s not in a rush even with the rain. It reminded him of the many evenings he and Basch would get caught in the rain when they went out on chocobos to go hunting. The way the both of them would be drenched when they arrived home only to meet their mother’s disapproving gaze. 

Disapproving but fond gaze. 

She would tell them to wait on the doorstep as she got them towels. Instead of handing it to them she would playfully throw them over their heads as she pulled them in to dry them. Once again Noah has to push those memories from his mind. The reminder of Basch only angered him further. One that simmered under the surface constantly waiting for something to trigger him. To lay out before him each day since Basch’s departure to Dalmasca, the tragedy that had befallen him because his brother didn’t think he or his mother worth staying. 

Noah’s hand clenches and jaw locks as he feels those emotions bubble over. Memories that Noah had once cherished resurfacing, replaying in his mind and only adding to hsi fires’ fuel. All these memories tarnished by a brother he had loved and adored!

His Adam's apple bobs in his throat as he swallows around an invisible lump. His nails digging into his palm reminding him that he’s alive.

This was not how he wanted to feel right now. The rain should have been soothing and yet all it was doing was reminding him how bogged down he is. The weight of his wet clothes is a physical reminder of how his emotions made him feel every passing moment. 

His brother deserved to suffer. Suffer as much as he had trying to care for their ill mother with not even a word from his twin.

Noah pauses. His hand unclenching as he blinks some of the water that had dripped onto his face away from his eyes. He’d heard something. 

He grows impossibly still as he hears the noise again. An incredibly pathetic sound but it tugs at a heartstring that Noah had forgotten he still had. He takes in one deep breath trying to let the spiraling anger from barely seconds earlier subside as best as it can before he ducks out from under the canopy. 

The sound was not too far and if Noah knew better he would say that it sounded like a kitten’s mewl. Except, that wouldn’t make sense given how clean Archades strove to be. Any strays that were caught in Nibasse were impounded immediately. Any sign of nature gone in an instance. Nothing like the wilds of Landis. 

Noah finds himself pausing a second time as he squints under the heavy fall of the rain at the small shivering and drenched figure of a small animal tucked into the crevice of a pillar and a wall. 

There it was again! The almost desperate mewl. 

Noah glances quickly around him before he throws caution to the wind and makes his way towards the small pathetic creature. He crouches down uncaring that he’d arrive at the Imperial Palace drenched and listens as the creature, the kitten, starts to mewl even louder. It doesn’t move from its spot and Noah can only heave a sigh as he scoops the small trembling thing up in his hand and pulls it against him. 

The kitten immediately claws into Noah’s shirt and then tucks itself in the crook of his neck. He can feel how cold and wet the poor thing must be especially with the way the kitten's body was shivering. Noah’s lips thin, brows knitting together, as the Noah from Landis reappears in his mind and insists he take the kitten with him. 

“What a day…” Noah murmurs as he turns just in time to catch sight of the cab docking near the queue. “And good timing.” 

The rest of the trip has Noah gently petting the kitten who won’t budge from his neck. The mewling had stopped but Noah wasn’t sure what he was going to do with this cat. He says nothing as he disembarks, makes his way through Tsenoble, into Grand Arachdes, and towards the palace. 

The squeak of wet boots against marble can be heard as Noah strides into, through, and up towards the Judge Magister quarters of the palace. He even manages to side-step Ghis who looked rankled that Noah hadn’t even given him the time of day. Noah’s sure it’s because the man just wanted to ruin it further but he had far more pressing matters to attend to, like the kitten that clearly needed food and warming up. 

Noah one-handedly produces the keys to his residency, slips it in, unlocks, pulls out. The keys disappear in his pocket, the door is open, and Noah is inside. The door closes behind him, he turns to lock it, and then he’s awkwardly trying to get out of his boots with a cat stuck to his shirt. 

He manages. Without too many incidents and he even pulls his wet socks off which cause him to shudder at the sensation. Noah leaves them on the shoe mat as he pads further into his abode. He beelines towards the bathroom where he loses his soaking wet pants, grabs two towels (this time the second one is not for Basch), and manages to pry the kitten from his shirt. 

Noah wraps the small black body into the towel hearing the poor thing mewl in protest but it’s enough freedom that Noah can tug his shirt up over his head and off. That too finds its home on the bathroom floor. In nothing but his underwear, Noah steps out of the bathroom being mindful as he carefully towel dries the complaining kitten. It struggles against him before a small head pops out from under the blue of his towel. 

It mewls and Noah stares. 

It mewls again and Noah unwraps the kitten to set it down on the kitchen counter. If his mother was still alive he’s sure he’d be hearing an earful but this was his kitchen and he didn’t really care at the moment, not with this creature’s impossibly deep green eyes prying into his very soul. 

Once settled on the counter the kitten immediately turns to start licking itself. This gives Noah time to grab two small bowls and set them in front of the kitten which barely pays them any attention. 

It made perfect sense, there was nothing in it to catch the kitten's attention. 

Noah grabs the half-empty carton of milk from the icebox and then a can of tuna. He pours the kitten a generous amount of milk, which immediately catches the feline's attention, and then he proceeds to open the can. At this point, the kitten had already moved towards the bowl to enjoy its fill. 

The sound of cutlery shaky is heard as Noah opens a drawer and pulls out a fork. He scoops a bit of the tuna out, pours a little bit of water, mixes the two, and sets it down beside the milk bowl. The kitten pauses in its consumption of milk to smell the tuna before it goes back to licking dry the milk bowl. 

Noah finally has time to pat himself dry with the second towel. When he makes it down to his boxer briefs, he slips them off and then wraps the towel around his waist. He waits for the kitten to be done with the milk before he’s scooping the creature up. This earns him a mewl of complaint which Noah ignores in favour of picking up his wet boxer-briefs which he tosses into the bathroom with the rest of his wet clothes. 

He makes his way to his bedroom, sets the kitten on his bed, and locates a soft set of joggers which he pulls on without hesitation. The towel gets draped over a chair as he goes to sit on his bed. The kitten trips over its own legs before it makes it to Noah’s side and nuzzles its head against his leg. He can hear the thing begin to purr and any resolve to take it to a shelter come morning disappears in an instance. 

This kitten too had been abandoned. Already there was common ground between them. 

Noah’s expression softens as he gently pets the small thing. This was a bad idea. As a Judge Magister he had no time to care for such a small and needy creature. Less needy than a dog but still needy nonetheless. It was hardly attention that Noah could spare or at least that’s what he was telling himself. 

Noah flops back onto the bed only for the kitten to take this opportunity to scale him. He regrets not wearing a shirt when he feels small nails dig into his skin. The feel of paws on his stomach, up his chest, and then the feel of a kitten tucking itself back into the crook of his neck. Once the small thing has settled Noah can hear the rumble of purring come from the creature. 

A terrible idea. 

It was such a terrible idea that Noah couldn’t bring himself to move so he wouldn’t disrupt the kittens purring. 

Gods help him…

The rest of the evening had Noah entertaining the kitten as he cleaned up after himself. That night after tucking himself into bed with the kitten once again settled into the crook of his neck, Noah realised that... he wouldn’t have the heart to part with this kitten. 

And, thus was the day Chaos had figuratively and literally come into his life.


End file.
